NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — More than four years after first coming under scrutiny in an FBI public corruption investigation, former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and one-time aide Cade Cothren are scheduled to go on trial this week in federal court.
Casada, 65, and Cothren, 38, are charged in a 20-count indictment that accuses them of engaging in a bribery and kickback scheme in conjunction with a deal to provide state-funded constituent mailing services for members of the House Republican Caucus.
Prosecutors say the two men conspired together in a "scheme involving fraud, bribery, theft, and money laundering," in which they "leveraged elected office for private profit, while using lies and concealment as means to accomplish their criminal goals."
If convicted, each man faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The trial, which begins Tuesday and is expected to last up to five weeks, will feature high-profile testimony from current House Speaker Cameron Sexton and numerous other ranking Republicans. Defense lawyers expected to put Capitol Hill culture itself on trial.
According to prosecutors, the scheme began after Cothren was forced to resign and Casada gave up his position as House speaker in 2019. That followed a scandal involving racist and sexist text messages between the pair first uncovered by NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
Cothren then set up a company, Phoenix Solutions LLC, to provide the mailing services for Republican legislators.
Casada, who still served as state representative for Williamson County, then conspired with fellow Republican Robin Smith of Hamilton County to steer state business to Phoenix Solutions in exchange for kickbacks from Cothren, prosecutors argue.
Smith has already pleaded guilty to her role and is expected to be a government witness against Casada and Cothren.
"To facilitate the scheme, the conspirators knew they had to conceal Cothren’s involvement in Phoenix Solutions and the fact that he kicked back a portion of the company’s profits to his co-conspirator legislators," prosecutors wrote in a memo summarizing their case.
"They understood that, if anyone knew about Cothren’s involvement or the kickbacks, Phoenix Solutions would not be approved by the State to be [a] vendor, nor would it be hired by individual members of the Tennessee General Assembly."
Prosecutors point to a text message in which Cothren told Casada, “We just have to make sure no one knows it’s me involved.”
Casada himself texted Cothren on another occasion, “We want no one knowing your [sic] Phoenix.” Cothren agreed, “No one needs to know whose company it is.”
Instead, Casada and Smith told state officials that Phoenix Solutions was controlled by someone named "Matthew Phoenix," the government contends. Cothren created an email account for that persona, even submitting a falsified tax form to the state using that name.
Casada and Smith then delivered "sham invoices" to the state on behalf of their own consulting companies — Right Way Consulting and River's Edge Alliance — to draw down payments for Phoenix Solutions, the prosecution memo says.
In 2020, according to prosecutors, the state paid out $51,947 for the mailing services.
"During the same timeframe, Cothren paid Casada and Smith more than $35,000 in bribes and kickbacks," the memo concludes.
Casada and Cothren both unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that there was no fraud since the state got the mailing services for which it paid.
"The Indictment does not, and cannot, allege that any individual who utilized the services of Phoenix Solutions did not receive exactly what they bargained for — mailers sent to constituents," Casada's motion argued.
"Nor can the Indictment allege that Phoenix Solutions failed to do exactly what it was represented to do — produce mailers for constituent mailings.
"Instead, the Indictment seeks to criminalize alleged non-disclosure of ownership and/or conflicts of interest in an attempt to impermissibly broaden the scope of both applicable Federal criminal law and Government prosecutorial authority."
U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson denied those motions to dismiss.
The FBI investigation first became public Jan. 8, 2021, when agents executed surprise early-morning raids on Casada, Cothren and Smith's homes, as well as several offices throughout Tennessee's Capitol Hill complex.
In March 2022, Smith pleaded guilty to a single count of honest-services wire fraud and became a government witness.
Casada and Cothren were indicted in August 2022.
Asked for comment after being released from custody, Cothren told NewsChannel 5 Investigates, "The truth will come out."
Read more: Timeline of events leading up to Rep. Glen Casada's arrest